BIG UPS

Major congratulations to my friend and haphazard femme idol, Jacqui Shine, whose article, “‘Open to the People for Their Free Assembly’: Tompkins Square Park, 1850–1880,” was just published in the Journal of Social History. She’s a fantastic thinker and writer, and her work is especially timely considering the recent unrest in London’s poor and immigrant neighborhoods, and what the response says about national identity, and the kinds of political speech and speakers that we authorize as a public. Oh yeah, and last year she started Write Your Principal, which is now part of the Make It Better Project, to combat anti-gay bullying in schools, so she’s kind of a big deal. Congrats, Jacqui!